I was running The Connacht Campaign for my kids, but two of them wanted new characters and I kind of wanted a fresh start, so Connacht was left behind (to the west) and I threw them all into The East March, an area I developed with some inspiration from A Rising Knight (which will be the first adventure).

The new party is made up of:

Lee - 3rd level ranger and veteran of our prior campaign (played by my 12 year-old). Lee has travelled east in search of new adventure after being told that there was no suitable work for new rangers in the western kingdoms.

Dif the Dwarf - 1st level fighter played by my 11 year-old - Dif left the northern mountains that his clan calls home after a dispute between two factions within the clan over allowing more access to the outside world. The isolationists won the dispute, and Dif was on the losing end, forced to leave the clanhold and find a life elsewhere. (My 11 year-old actually made up this back-story on the spot - I was rather impressed!)

Bill - 1st level thief played by my 8 year-old - Bill stole the wrong thing from the wrong man back west and ended up a (very) wanted man. He fled into the east, where he quickly ended up in a cell at Greykeep.

Twit - 1st level fighter and veteran of our prior campaign now played by me until I feel like they don't need a great big dumb crutch anymore. Twit tagged along with Lee when he went east. He likes nothing better than walking downhill, as opposed to uphill.

The new campaign area:

I wanted to get even more old-school with my campaign, as I thought Connacht was almost TOO detailed. So I created The East March, a new frontier of a kingdom on the other side of some mountains to the west. My intention is to have a bare-bones setting that I can develop as we go, rather than my more fleshed-out Connacht setting that ending up feeling kind of restrictive. So...

The East March

Geography

The East March is bordered by The West Mounts to the west, open plains to the north (no set border), the Dunderry River to the east, and the wastelands to the south (again, no set border). The land is primarily low rolling hills with many small streams. There are two notable forests: Fairwood/Creepweld in the northeast, and Malforten Wood in the east/central region. Other than the Dunderry, there is one major river, the Shimmerdale, which flows out of the Fairwood and south along the West Mounts and then into the wastelands. The wastelands to the south are a barren land unsuitable for growing or grazing - and therefore unpopulated. Some say the wastelands are "not natural".

Politics

The primary settlement of The East March, and the only settlement in the area that really qualifies as anything close to a "city", is Outremere, also known as "The Grey Keep" or "Greykeep". Outremere is situated at a crossing of the Shimmerdale River close to the trail west over the West Mounts. Baron Orwyn, Warden of The East March, holds this settlement by appointment of the king. Smaller towns, villages and hamlets dot the countryside of this open land. All of these settlements are relatively young, and many are experiencing growing pains in this wild land.

Most of these settlements are held by a knight who owes service or scutage to Baron Orwyn at Outremere. While service is owed to Baron Orwyn, the knights are granted their fiefs by the king, thus setting up a somewhat strained relationship between the Baron and his tenants. Some of these knights do not live in The East March, leaving a local villein to oversee their land. Other settelments are religious holdings, with the respective church (Aithir or Brige) responsible for local authority.

History

This area was once part of "The Empire", and the remains of that period are evident in many places (ruins, ancient roads, etc.). After the fall (retreat?) of The Empire, the area had no human habitation for many centuries. Other races established holdings in the area in those intervening years, and the new settlements of The East March are having to deal with those inhabitants - sometimes with open conflict.

(We actually have two sessions finished already - write-ups to follow when I have time...)_________________Laudir Agus Mir

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